More people are answering God’s call to serve the Church
CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte ordained its first priest in 1974, only two years after it was established, and since then the number of clergy has continued to grow as the diocese has grown. The diocese’s four bishops – starting with the first bishop, Bishop Michael Begley, and continuing to current Bishop Peter Jugis – have encouraged the faithful to support people pursuing religious vocations and to pray for an increase in vocations.
Those prayers and that support – seeds planted in fertile ground – have produced a harvest of blessings. The diocese is experiencing a vocations boom, with more people discerning the priesthood, permanent diaconate and religious life especially over the past decade.
As the Catholic population living in western North Carolina has swelled from an estimated 35,000 when the diocese was established in 1972 to today’s estimated 450,000, the number of people serving the local Church has also increased.
In the diocese’s 92 parishes and missions, 81 priests and 135 deacons are at work serving the people of God in western North Carolina, up from 72 priests and 96 deacons just a decade ago. Nearly two dozen religious orders of men and women, approximately 36 religious priests, 128 sisters and 11 religious brothers also serve in the diocese.
This fall, it is anticipated that the diocese will have 38 men studying for the priesthood, including 16 seminarians at three major seminaries in the U.S. and Rome and 22 students at the new St. Joseph College Seminary in Charlotte.
Opened in 2016, the college seminary has been a magnet for vocations as young men have responded to the opportunity to study and discern a religious vocation close to their homes and parishes.
The intensified interest in the college seminary has prompted the diocese to expand housing for them on the St. Ann Church campus on Park Road. The students already fill two houses adjacent to the church, and a third house – recently vacated by the Sisters of St. Joseph, who had served the parish for more than 32 years – is being refurbished to accommodate more.
Meanwhile, the diocese has purchased 86 acres about two miles from Belmont Abbey College as a permanent site for the college seminary. Fundraising for the $20 million campaign to build St. Joseph College Seminary is expected to begin in the 2018-’19 fiscal year.
And the college seminary’s first two graduates are headed to Ohio this fall, where they will join three seminarians already studying at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary at the Athenaeum in Cincinnati.
Eight other seminarians are studying nearby at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus. In addition, three men are studying at the North American College in Rome.
Last June five men were ordained to the priesthood for the diocese by Bishop Jugis, himself a local vocation. The Charlotte native is celebrating his 35th anniversary of ordination: he was ordained on June 12, 1983, by St. John Paul II at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. This year also marks his 15th anniversary as the fourth bishop of Charlotte.
While there are no ordinations planned this year, the diocese hopes to ordain three men to the priesthood in 2019.
As far as parishes go, St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte has the distinction of having five parishioners currently studying for the priesthood.
Father Matthew Kauth, rector of St. Joseph College Seminary, is astonished by the number of men who are discerning a call to the priesthood.
“What we did know was that vocations often spring up in a heart at that time when a young man begins to ask the question, ‘What will I live for?’ What we didn’t know is that 24 men in three academic years would look at our new, fledgling seminary and say, ‘That is what I will live for. I will live for Christ as His priest.’”
“The numbers have simply been astounding and there is no end in sight,” Father Kauth said. “Now we must build so that we might be under one roof instead of many. They have answered the call to sacrifice, and now the faithful must answer the call to support.”
PERMANENT DIACONATE
From 1980, when the Diocese of Charlotte established a Permanent Diaconate ministry, to today, the permanent diaconate has similarly flourished as the diocese has grown.
Nineteen men were ordained by Bishop Begley as the first class of permanent deacons on May 29, 1983.
The past two ordinations, in 2014 and 2018, saw a total of 31 men ordained permanent deacons for the diocese. Across western North Carolina, there are now 135 permanent deacons serving in the ministry of the Word, of the Altar, and of Charity.
And the steady stream of men interested in the permanent diaconate continues, with 18 men currently in the aspirancy program. From these aspirants, a new class of candidates will be selected this summer to begin formation at the end of August in the Permanent Diaconate program.
CONSECRATED RELIGIOUS
When the Diocese of Charlotte was established in 1972, 15 religious communities of men and women were active in the diocese. Today, there are 23 communities spread across western North Carolina.
Currently there are 36 religious order priests serving the diocese, as well as 128 active women religious and 11 brothers.
Parishes around the diocese are witnessing parishioners, young men and women, entering religious orders around the country.
St. Ann Parish in Charlotte, for example, has two parishioners who have joined religious communities in recent years. There are also two men from the parish studying for the diocesan priesthood.
‘VOCATION IS TODAY!’
The seeds planted in the past are producing a bountiful harvest, but there is always a need for more people to answer God’s call to serve the Church.
In his message for the 2018 World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Pope Francis encouraged the faithful who may be feeling that call to respond without delay.
“Our slowness and our sloth” should not delay a response, and Christians need not be “fearful of our limitations and sins, but instead open our hearts to the voice of the Lord,” the pope wrote.
“Every Christian ought to grow in the ability to ‘read within’ his or her life and to understand where and to what he or she is being called by the Lord, in order to carry on His mission.”
“If (God) lets us realize that He is calling us to consecrate ourselves totally to His kingdom, then we should have no fear!” he said. ”It is beautiful – and a great grace to be completely and forever consecrated to God and the service of our brothers and sisters.”
“It will not fill our hearts if we keep standing by the window with the excuse of waiting for the right time, without accepting this very day the risk of making a decision. Vocation is today! The Christian mission is now!” he said.
It appears that many men and women in the diocese are listening.
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
Read the entire vocations edition.
Considering a religious vocation?
If you or someone you know is contemplating a religious vocation, check out the following general resources online.
Talk with your pastor, read up on consecrated life and the various communities that exist, and contact religious communities that interest you. Many offer “come and see” days or retreats that are good opportunities to learn more and meet others who have already accepted God’s call to religious life.
For young men and women, there are also summer discernment retreats offered by the Diocese of Charlotte and hosted at Belmont Abbey College: Quo Vadis Days for young men, and Duc in Altum for young women. Check them out online at www.charlottediocese.org/vocations.
And don’t be afraid to ask questions!
Diocesan vocations office
Father Christopher Gober, Director of Vocations: 704-370-3327, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
General information
- www.foryourvocation.org: Set up by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, dedicated to the promotion of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life for both men and women. They are also on Facebook and YouTube. There are resources for parents and teachers, questions to ask yourself if you feel God is calling you, see videos of vocation stories from priests and religious all over the U.S., and much more.
- www.religiouslife.com: The Institute for Religious Life’s website, with plenty of resources for both men and women interested in a vocation or those who wish to support religious life.
- Not sure what religious communities are out there that might be a good fit for you? Check out: www.religiousministries.com. Search this database to find a men’s or women’s religious community, whether you wish to become a priest, nun, brother or lay missioner, or just want to find out more about living a religious life.
- www.cloisteredlife.com: Aims to bring to attention the gift of cloistered and monastic life in the Church, sponsored by the Institute for Religious Life.
Religious communities for men
- www.cmsm.org: The Conference of Major Superiors of Men serves the leadership of the Catholic orders and congregations of the more than 17,000 vowed religious priests and brothers in the U.S.
- www.religiousbrotherhood.com: Sponsored by the Institute for Religious Life specifically to increase awareness of the specific charism of religious brotherhood in the U.S.
Religious communities for women
- www.cmswr.org: The Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious (CMSWR) is a canonically approved organization founded in 1992, to promote religious life in the U.S.
- www.lcwr.org: The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) is an association of the leaders of congregations of Catholic women religious in the U.S.
CHARLOTTE — More than 200 people came to the Embassy Suites in Charlotte June 16 to congratulate Deacon Curtiss P. Todd on the 30th anniversary of his ordination to the diaconate as well as his continued service to Our Lady of Consolation Parish, the diocese and the community at large.
The celebration was hosted by the “Spiritual Intercessors” of OLC, led by Naomi Byrd, and remarks from guests including Deacon Stephen Pickett, Rosheene Adams from the Diocese of Charlotte’s African American Affairs Ministry, Willis Joseph, Catherine Gomez, Pat McDonald and a special presentation from Priscilla Duncan. OLC musical performers Toni Tupponce and Morris Whitaker entertained with musical numbers in between tributes from the numerous guest speakers.
The 80-year-old Deacon Todd reflected on his 30 years of ministry, which included service as vice chancellor for the Diocese of Charlotte, leadership in the diocesan African American Affairs Ministry, RCIA, the Black Catholic Congress and civil rights advocacy.
“You know, 30 years is important but to be honest with you, to me it has been more than 30 years of service; it has been 30 years of growth,” he said. “I don’t mean personal or physical growth, I mean spiritual growth. Those of you who knew me – as a boy, as a teenager, as a young man, as a middle-aged man, as a newly-ordained man – those who knew me know that I had little to no spirituality. None whatsoever. In all honesty, I was arrogant, opinionated, egotistical, selfish, didn’t go to church, had no prayer life, and my only interest was in getting what physically appeased me and not spiritually.
“I didn’t see God in my life, but He was, and He had a plan for me.”
God was calling him from a young age, he said, and at first he felt he should become a Lutheran minister. He joined the Lutheran Church and made plans to attend a Lutheran seminary after finishing school.
But that was “my plan, not God’s, because it didn’t happen,” he said.
He graduated from college and “left religion,” he said. “Then at 28, I started having feelings: Curtiss, you have to start doing something more with your life than you’re doing.”
He explored different religions and his research led him to Catholicism.
“The Catholic Church was the only religion that I could chase all the way back straight to Jesus,” he said. “I said, ‘That’s got to be the church for me.’”
He entered the Catholic Church, still feeling called by God somehow, but not knowing to what exactly. At first, he thought perhaps God was calling him to the priesthood – “again, my plan, not God’s.”
He grew discouraged and drifted away from the Church for a time. At 45, he recalled, the feeling returned that God was calling him to something more: “Curtiss, you’ve got to do more. There is more here to life than what you are doing.”
One day while he was driving to Sunday Mass, he realized he couldn’t make it in time to the church in Rock Hill where he had been attending.
“I looked down at the clock and it was almost 11 o’clock. I called myself a few choice names and said, ‘‘You can’t make it back in time for Mass.’ And then I remembered: Our Lady of Consolation is just two exits up.”
His daughter had gone to OLC’s school, so he was familiar with the parish. He arrived just in time for Mass, slipping in to the back pew. And he kept going back to OLC for Mass, gradually getting involved in parish life. He met with then pastor Father Wilbur Thomas, and described to him the feelings he had been having.
“He finally asked me one day, ‘Curtiss, have you ever thought about the permanent diaconate?’ And I said no.”
Father Thomas suggested that he apply, even though he did not know much about the program at the time. “I applied for the diaconate and was accepted – not my plan, but God’s plan,” Deacon Todd recounted.
“God did not plan for me to be a Lutheran minister, He did not plan for me to be a Catholic priest. His plan for me was to be a Catholic permanent deacon.”
Since he was ordained on June 18, 1988, Deacon Todd has made it his mission “to minister to the people of African American decent, while at the same time making other cultures aware of the positive contributions, talents and abilities of African Americans to the Church and the world.”
In a 2005 interview with the Catholic News Herald, he reiterated that goal: “I would like the Church – meaning the people in the diocese – to establish a true and honest relationship with Jesus, knowing without a doubt what He would say, do and think in any situation. If and when this happens, it would erase racism, egoism, self-importance and so on. We wouldn’t have any concerns about the Church, for it would truly become what it was intended to be.”
Thirteen years later conversations and dialogue have been exchanged, protests have been waged, movements have been created and the Church in western North Carolina is getting closer to “eradicating racism” in the name of Jesus – largely thanks to the leadership of strong black Catholics such as Deacon Todd.
Through these past 30 years, Deacon Todd’s experience and wisdom have grown but his philosophy has remained intact: “think, act and talk like Jesus.”
“Deacon Todd walks his faith daily without fanfare. He is one of the most powerful men of God I know,” said OLC parishioner Toni Tupponce. “Deacon Todd is the humblest leader I know. He uses humor when necessary and then ‘tells it like it is.’ He does what he has to do that is right. He tries to stay on the side of the angels, even if he upsets people in the process. He is a leader who is unafraid to speak truth to power. He does not change regardless of who he is talking to.”
Tupponce said she is grateful for Deacon Todd’s continuing service, especially his work advocating for “black cultural inclusion, fairness and equity in the diocese and in our parish.”
“We need him more than ever!” she said.
“If you have ever been in his presence, he just enjoys being with people,” noted Deacon Pickett. “He doesn’t need a whole lot, just a listening ear as he tells you what he thinks. And you better be ready for what he thinks, because it’s not all the time that sweet, good stuff.”
Although Deacon Todd technically retired in 2009, he remains active at OLC by assisting at Mass and delivering homilies, leading workshops and mentoring people – and parishioners and friends say they are grateful he continues to devote his life to the people of God.
“He goes around taking the love of God to those who are in need,” said Deacon Pickett. “He is a wonderful father and grandfather, and he is a man of God. He is a man of integrity. He is the same whether he is in clericals or in bermuda shorts, whether he has on dress shoes or flip-flops. He doesn’t change.”
“The past 30 years have been a growth process here to learn and develop,” Deacon Todd reflected. “I had to learn things about the ministry, about the Church, about the people in the Church, about people not in the Church. All of these are important, but the most important thing learned about was me: how God made me to be. I had to learn that who I was, and what God called me to be, were two different people, totally opposite.
“I had to come to that learning in two primary ways. One, I had to develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I had to learn that not only is He my Savior, He is my friend. He leads me, He teaches me. I have to develop that personal relationship with Him and I have to make my every thought, word and deed exactly what He would think. I have to come that close to Him.
“Two, I had to ask God for the gift of the Holy Spirit. That is because Jesus tells us in John’s Gospel that when He leaves He is going to send the Holy Spirit to teach us everything and remind us of all He taught us. What that says to me is if the Holy Spirit has to teach me everything, then I know absolutely nothing. I had to develop that spiritual wisdom, I had to take me out of what I want, what I feel, what I think and what pleases me. I have done both of those things and I do those things daily. As a result, thanks be to God, I am not the same person I was 30 years ago, 20 years ago, 10 years ago – I’m still learning, still developing, still a work in progress.
“The only thing I think God is telling me to do is to live by Jesus and God’s Holy Spirit.”
— Lisa Geraci, Correspondent